De-Greening the Champ-de-Mars

The Champ-de-Mars by the Eiffel Tower, which was created for military drills, is today a battleground for city planners vs. tree advocates. In a city that, for centuries, was built with boulevards and vistas that project la gloire de France for visitors, Parisians ask: Is our city to be looked at--or lived in? 
 

This podcast was created by Roger Mummert for www.theparisproject.net.

Transcript

De-Greening the Champ-de-Mars

Temperatures in Paris in July reached a record 40C/104F. But to the dismay of many Parisians, the city is removing precious trees that provide a vital cooling effect. And the Champ-de-Mars by the Eiffel Tower, which was created for military drills, is today a battleground for city planners vs. tree advocates. 

The Champ-de-Mars is an enormous green space well used by Parisians. At its edge is the Eiffel Tower, visited by up to 30 million people each year, many of them tourists from abroad. That number is expected to swell by 2024 when Paris plays host to the Olympics. In preparation, the city planned a renovation that would add a visitors center, bathrooms, gardens and create new perspectives on the iconic tower. The plan also included the removal of mature shade trees.

This enraged many Parisians and energized groups in opposition. Thomas Brail, founder of the National Group for Surveillance of Trees (GNSA), held a hunger strike for 11 days. He did so while perched in an endangered plane tree thought to be more than 200 years old. In addition, 140,000 signatures were collected in support of saving the trees. The response was effective. The city reduced its tree removal plans in the Champ-de-Mars from 40 to 22 then to zero.  But, according to the GNSA and other groups that oppose the bétonnisation (concretization) of green spaces throughout the city, it’s not just about saving a tree and then building around it.

Construction close by an old tree endangers the root system that sustains it—and also connects it to other trees and flora, while supporting animal life. Stressing a root system can spell death to an old tree, then another and another. These old trees must be preserved because they are exponentially better than young trees at cooling the city and storing carbon. One mature tree, says the GNSA, provides a cooling effect equivalent to five air conditioners. It also refreshes the air of Paris through the process of evapotranspiration.

Tree planting and preservation in the Champ-de-Mars has a long history. In the early 19th century, Napoleon planted trees to cool the troops that drilled there. When Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel tower for the 1889 Exposition, he took pains to preserve mature trees nearby. The trees represent centuries of history, and they continue to play a role as les grande dames in the greening of Paris. By contrast, the Eiffel Tower, which was intended only as temporary monument to late 19th century technology, sequesters zero carbon. 

The glorious and aged trees on the Champ-de-Mars are safe for now, and the city has agreed to meet with preservation groups to work out a new plan. 

For these groups, the greater concern is the gap between the city’s progressive green talk and its actions. In recent years, the city has removed scores of mature and vital trees. The city says it plans to replant 170,000 new trees—but Alexis Boniface of the GNSA calls this is an “untenable” plan. The city has yet to identify where the space exists to do so. It has lost all credibility.   

Instead of touting the number of seedlings that will take years to begin to green the open spaces and refresh the air of Paris, the city should respect and promote the role that mature trees already play in achieving those very goals. 

For more information…

Paris Greening Program

Energy - Cities https://www.parisperfect.com/plan-your-trip/things-to-see/parks-gardens/champ-de-mars.php

The Eiffel Tower Site Renovation

Gustafson, Porter and Bowman: Eiffel Tower Site Plan

http://www.gp-b.com/site-tour-eiffel

This design firm is conducting the landscape redesign of the Eiffel Tower site. Its website explains that the Eiffel Tower is a “victim of its own popularity” (30 million visitors a year) and details its plan to to help visitors to “discover, approach, visit” the site. The aim is to provide new views of the tower and prioritize human scale. This includes the creation of a “second landscape” that honors "the site’s history of gardens as places of artistic experimentation.” Critics say the plan reduces the amount of green space now available to the public. 

History of Champs de Mars

Paris Perfect https://www.parisperfect.com/plan-your-trip/things-to-see/parks-gardens/champ-de-mars.php

Environmental and Tree Advocacy Groups

Les Amis de Champ-de-Mars

https://www.amisduchampdemars.fr/page/1816439-actualite-2022

Mission to promote the voices of ordinary Parisians and countering a degradation of one of the largest green spaces in the city. The group finds it incomprehensible that the amount of green space available to the public is being reduced. 

Pierre Lamalattie, Friends of the Champs-de-Mars

Aux Arbres Citoyens https://aux-arbres-citoyens.org

Promotes preservation of fruit trees through shared picking efforts.  

Song: “Aux Arbres Citoyens” by Yannick Noah, former tennis player and now a singer, to tune of national anthem “Aux Armes Citoyens.”

National Group for Surveillance of Trees (GNSA) https://gnsafrance.org

This nationwide group promotes standards for the protection of mature trees and opposes clear cutting logging practices throughout France. 

Thomas Brail, founder

Alexis Beniface, member